Purdy: Sharks sweep and have something to talk about

San Jose Sharks center Logan Couture (39) collides against the boards with Vancouver Canucks defenseman Dan Hamhuis during the first period of Game 4 of their first-round NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series in San Jose, Calif., May 7, 2013.

SAN JOSE -- For the record, Logan Couture did not embellish any of his victorious handshakes after Tuesday's series-clinching game and unprecedented playoff sweep.

For the record, neither did the losing Vancouver Canucks.

"They were nice to me in the handshake line," Couture said a few minutes later, sounding surprised. "They all said, 'Good luck.' "

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What else could the Canucks say, if they wanted to stay a little classy? The remarks of Vancouver defenseman Kevin Bieksa from the previous day -- he accused Couture and Joe Thornton of being "so-called Canadians" who lacked integrity and embellished any opposing contact to draw penalties -- had definitely backfired.

Hockey karma is a stitch, or something that rhymes with stitch.

Couture and Thornton wound up with the assists on Joe Pavelski's goal that tied the score at 3-3 with 4:27 left in the third period and sent the game into overtime. Thornton then created the game-ending goal on a power play 13:18 into the extra period when he carried the puck across the blue line and did what he hardly ever does:

Vancouver goalie Cory Schneider also appeared taken aback, though he did initially stop the puck. But he didn't do so cleanly, and it dribbled into some open space behind him but in front of the goal line. An onrushing Patrick Marleau, using his speed to squirt past the overtime-tired legs of Canucks defenders, raced to the puck and buried it.

Vancouver, which had played its best game of the series, was done. And was not happy. Daniel Sedin, who had set up the Sharks' winning power play by taking a boarding penalty against Tommy Wingels -- and disagreeing with it vociferously -- jawed at the referees as he came out of the penalty box and drew a game misconduct penalty for "abusive language."

The Canucks indeed were frequent conversationalists during their time at HP Pavilion this week. And in the end, it didn't get them anywhere. That's why, even though Couture was appreciative of the good-luck wishes from some Vancouver players, he was extra delighted to see them go down in four games.

Couture also didn't realize that a four-game sweep was a franchise first. He was 2 years old when the Sharks were born in 1991.

"I didn't know it was a first sweep, but that's awesome," Couture said.

But man, was it an adventure getting the fourth one on Tuesday. The Sharks led, then blew the lead, then tied the score, then finally got the winner.

Earlier Tuesday, Sharks coach Todd McLellan tried to keep the focus as narrow as possible, to ensure that his players were staying in each moment, taking one shift at a time.

"Let's play the way we should, and at the end of the night, we'll look up at the clock and see what the score is," McLellan said. "Usually, if you play the way you should, you receive the reward."

The Sharks' reward Tuesday was becoming the first NHL team this spring to clinch a series, sending them to the next round against an opponent to be determined. That's not incidental. Generally, the teams that reach the Stanley Cup finals are the teams that plow through the early business as fast as possible.

"I think it does make a difference," said defenseman Dan Boyle, who was with Tampa Bay during its 2004 run to the Cup and remembered how much an early-round sweep of Montreal helped save energy for the seven-game finals against Calgary.

The Sharks now could have up to seven days to rest for round two.

The National Hockey League re-seeds the bracket after each round of the playoffs. Thus, the first games of the second round can't begin until every team is done with the first round. Two other Western Conference series are tied at 2-2 and will go a minimum of six games. One might go seven. There are four potential Game 7's scheduled for Sunday and three others scheduled for Monday. Thus, the first games of the second round are not likely to begin until next Tuesday at the earliest.

Because of all those first-round permutations, the Sharks' next opponent is still fully up in the air. It will most likely be Chicago, Los Angeles or St. Louis. But there are other possibilities. The Sharks are just glad to have them. And happy to be the first sweepers in the team record book.